One of Those Moments
by Kuroneko Hikage
Summary: The transition into the New Year is over, but the cold remains, and perfection is once again obtained.


Title: One of Those MomentsPairing(s): Ichigo/Hitsugaya Rating: PG-13  
Summary: The transition into the New Year is over, but the cold remains, and perfection is once again obtained.  
Warnings: Ichigo's mouth, as well as his slight perversion with Shiro-chan's blood. Shounen ai, yaoi. Make-out scene! XD  
Disclaimer: I tried to steal Shiro-chan... But the creator already had him back by the time my body fully thawed.  
A/N: I have no beta for this fandom yet, so I apologize in advance for my dyslexic tendencies. Otherwise, this is the first fic in this fandom that I've written! Woo! I wrote this some time ago, and am now just putting it up... oo That's sad...

--Start--

"_The snow is so beautiful, tonight..."_

_A light tug on her robes directed her gaze downwards. "Why do you say that, mommy?"_

_The paternal woman knelt to his level, resting a delicate hand atop untamed orange hair. "Everything is beautiful because I'm with you."_

"_That's silly. You're always with me."_

_She laughed and ruffled the boy's hair. "Well, Ichi-chan, not always." She smiled, looking up at the dark sky. "But I have been spending a lot of time with you, lately. Maybe I should go pay attention to Karin or Yuzu instead..."_

_There was an almost immediate response to that. Young Ichigo grasped tightly to his mother's waist, burying his head against her clothed stomach. "Don't go! Don't leave me here!"_

_Again, her melodious laugh echoed throughout the air. "Aw, Ichi-chan, I wouldn't leave you." She shifted so she was sitting on the ground, Ichigo in her lap. "Stay with me like this, okay?" She ran her hand through his spikes._

"_But it's cold."_

"_Yes, it is. If it weren't cold, then the snow would all melt away."_

"_Will that make mommy sad?"_

"_Yes."_

_He grinned up from where he was encircled in her embrace. "Then I wish the snow would never go away!"_

_That caused her to laugh again. "It has to go away sometime." This made him frown, but she placed a reassuring look on her face. "It isn't just the cold, or the snow that makes me happy. We take a moment to stop, look around, and admire the view, with a person we love." She poked his nose. "It's one of those moments where everything is shiny and comfortable, shared with someone special."_

_Ichigo was kind of confused, but he had only one question. He pointed to himself. "Am I special?"_

_She gave him an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "Yes, Ichi-chan, you are."_

_He looked around him, trying to figure out all that large talk in his head. The snow was shiny, he was comfy in his mother's lap, and he was special. He decided to ask her to make sure._

"_So this is a moment?"_

"_Yes" was the simple reply._

_Seconds ticked away, stars twinkled, and the moon hung big and heavy in the sky. The silence was broken with a sneeze._

"_It's still cold!"_

_--- _

Ichigo cursed, realizing that he'd let his eyes fall shut during the flashback. It's been well over an hour, now, since his encounter. Kon, ever the irritating plushy, had stowed away in his bag for a chance to go back to school. While it irked him to no end, he came pretty handy when, on his way home, a hollow had attacked. It was nothing, really. Just one of those small, weak ones that was easy to kill. It had speed, but nothing compared to his.

And now he was on the way home, Kon stuffed unceremoniously back into his bag. His muffled complaining of the rough treatment and his crying for Rukia was almost enough to make his ears bleed. The mod soul was getting easily tempered these days, no doubt caused from the lack of his neesan. She seemed to find less time to visit him these days, and Ichigo would be lying if he said he didn't miss her, too.

Noticing he'd stopped moving, he sighed. He must've been really spaced out. Now he didn't know where, exactly, he was. Great; the last thing he wanted was to be lost.

Ichigo dropped his bag, ignoring the obscenities directed at him, and jumped high up into the trees. He went as high as they would allow, which was just a little more than average. It was enough. He spotted the edge of the small forest, marking a path toward it in his head. It still baffled him as to how he could get lost in such a small space of forestry. He could see the other end of the forest in the opposite direction.

He jumped smoothly back down, yanking the bag from the sidewalk, and continued on his way. He kept his mind shut, eyes open, and ears selectively tuning out Kon's indistinct rambling.

He was unsure why that memory decided to pop up when it did. He hadn't thought about that in a long time, not since his mother died. That memory must've gone into hibernation. The time of day and his location notwithstanding, why now after so many years? He had been on many treks through the snow with her. He remembered making snow people in the backyard, resembling their family. Snow angels, sledding, even ice skating.

All of those activities stopped after his mother passed away. But when he was with Rukia, he'd finally come to terms with her death, and felt lighter. The next step to healing would be to take up one of those old activities, but he figured that he might be too old for something like snowmen.

Clearing the dense foliage, Ichigo took a look around. The entrance to the park was to his left, indicated with nothing more than an empty road and sidewalk. Sighing with relief, he trudged through the snow. His socks were wet. He was tired. Plus the hollow managed to knick a bicep; he wanted to get that treated before it became a problem. For now, he managed to wrap a spare bandage around it. His healing abilities were almost nonexistent compared to Orihime.

He touched the tender wound, wincing a little. It wasn't life-threatening, but it somewhat resembled a paper cut. Stings like a bitch.

Sighing, he made his way to the road. Or, at least, he started to. Part of the night flickered on his peripheral vision. Not quite sure what it was, he shifted his eyes, not moving his head. Was that a Hell butterfly? His brow furrowed. That was odd. What was one of those doing here? They normally didn't appear unless…

His ears picked up a distinct scraping sound, too irregular to be caused by machinery. The butterfly was gone. Ichigo turned his body a full one-eighty; the sight was nothing short of breath-taking.

The figure of Toshiro Hitsugaya was gliding smoothly across the park's frozen pond. The night wind shifted through his hair. His body consisted of black jeans and a sleeveless turtleneck the color of his eyes. One thing that freaked Ichigo out a little was the fact that Hitsugaya didn't seem to have a pair of skates on. Nope, they were just a pair of regular boots.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he walked up to the edge of the ice. He didn't trust himself walking on it. Hitsugaya, on the other hand, seemed to be at complete ease. He was skating forward, backward, spinning in circles and doing small jumps.

Ichigo was awestruck, stupefied, mesmerized, or any other word associated. The taichou was a perfect vision out there. He wasn't quite sure how long he'd been staring, but when he came out of his dazed stupor, he was gazing into the icy gaze of the child prodigy. He was no longer moving around the pond. His feet were firmly planted under him, standing less than a couple of meters away.

"Idiot."

Wondering what "it's Hitsugaya taichou" was doing here in the human world, he let the question slip from his lips, lowering himself to a bench.

"Hello, Toshiro. What are you doing here?"

Said silver-haired boy walked toward him, feet not even close to wavering or slipping. "I'm here for your monthly briefing."

Ichigo scrunched up his face. "I thought that was Renji-san's job…?"

"It is."

"Then where is he?"

Hitsugaya sat on the bench next to Ichigo, sighing. "He's back within the Court of Pure Souls. It seems that he doesn't agree with the cold weather and made an excuse to stay." He started picking at his fingernails with a small knife. "So I got stuck with the job."

Ichigo waited for more. Was there anything to report? There certainly wasn't anything on his end; just a few hollows. Aizen and Gin were still missing. Only silence continued, so he thought to try another topic. Hitsugaya had yet to respond negatively to Ichigo using his name familiarly, which was rather odd. However, that didn't stop him from using it again.

"Umm... You were pretty good out there, Toshiro. You looked kinda cool," he said with a grin, indicating the ice with an index finger. That only earned him a half-hearted glare from the boy, as if to say "duh."

"I'm a master of the element; of course I'd know how to travel around on it."

He flipped the knife back into a pocket, shifting his body so that he was leaning on his side, invading Ichigo's personal space. The orange-top didn't mind. It was cold outside, and although there was little to no warmth coming from the little captain, Ichigo felt comfortable with his company.

The grin was still on his face, and he chuckled. "I haven't been on Skates in a while, so I'm a bit rusty. My mom was pretty good."

Hitsugaya went from cold indifference to warm sympathy, a sad smile on his face. "I'm sure she would be smiling right now if you went out there for her."

Ichigo shrugged and waved it off. "Nah... She was always happy when she was with the family. She's probably happy right now, with a new one."

Hitsugaya nodded, once more settling into silence. Not agreeing for Ichigo's sake, but because he understood the concept of leaving old ties behind when dead.

Ichigo felt a little edgy and nervous in it, and once again he looked for something to talk about. Toshiro was a quite person, but Ichigo wasn't. That was another habit to break. He was always loud, always talking, anything to keep himself from thinking. About his mom's death, about the family's depression, about his own faults and how to cope. He must admit those were some of the darkest days in his life, the week after the funeral.

_Ack! Don't think, don't think!_

Catching sight of something in the taichou's lap, he pointed to it. "You're injured."

Hitsugaya blinked, brought out of his own thoughts by Ichigo's voice. He lifted his hand and examined his thumb. A small cut shined, droplets of blood welling along the wound. "So I am."

He didn't sound like he was in pain, and he certainly didn't sound all that surprised. Had Toshiro gone emo and intentionally hurt himself? Ichigo doubted that, despite how beautiful he looked with that blood trailing down his finger. On mere impulse Ichigo took his hand, bringing it up while he leaned down. He could feel Hitsugaya still every muscle in his body as Ichigo lazily dragged his tongue across the cut. The blood had been cooled from the cold weather, almost frozen.

Blood-icicles; It had a sick, but lovely ring to it, and it was close to the truth. Looking up at the white-haired captain, Ichigo blushed almost as red as Renji's hair. The Shinigami was giving him a sultry gaze, eyes half-lidded, lips slightly parted, and he swore that Hitsugaya's thumb was caressing his lips.

The rest of Toshiro's hand rested against his jaw-line, and Ichigo was unsure if he was pulling him, or that he was moving forward on his own. Toshiro's face filled his vision, his breath mingling with his own, and a blizzard of feelings oozing out of every pore.

Ichigo could no longer think anything except for the cool touch of Hitsugaya's lips. They were lost, to a place where time stood still. Their bodies seem to be glued to one another, hands straying to every available inch of hot and cold skin. Tongues became one in their mouths. Ichigo never thought ice to have a flavor, but this ice definitely wasn't plain. Ichigo eagerly sought out more of that Toshiro-flavored ice, drawing his tongue into his mouth and sucking popsicle-like muscle.

They didn't pay any attention to the newly-falling snow, shining on every surface. They were together, thinking and drinking nothing but each other. Toshiro reminded him of the snow, which in turn reminded him of those moments he shared with his mother in the snow. His mother was a very special person in his heart, and anyone whom reminded him of her, they had to be special as well.

_Toshiro... You've managed to surround my heart in your ice, in your snow... Your winter._

It must've been... one of those moments.

---OWARI---

Yay! There you have it! My first-ever Bleach fanfiction, dedicated to Toshiro and Ichigo! I hope you enjoy it. Bows Thank you for reading.

-LittleK  
-Soloyuymaxwell  
-Kuroneko Hikage  
-Dee-Dee-Kun


End file.
